I think the Kerry Pennell connection is confusion with the ex-Donovan Oldins Typhoon, which was around at about the same time and which I think Pennell bought
I think the Kerry Pennell connection is confusion with the ex-Donovan Oldins Typhoon, which was around at about the same time and which I think Pennell bought
Hey Marty, thanks heaps for posting these pics, and for clearing up where the Bagnall car came from. Are those Wolf Racing wheels Miedecke used on his cars?Originally Posted by Marty
Thanks also for the Waldock Playscape RS500 pics. I don't know why, but I always thought Stone Brothers had built this car. Glad you have steered me straight on that one!
They do look like Ronal (Wolf) wheels on Bagnalls and Miedecke's cars? And of course DJR wheels on Waldocks. I think Ross Stone was at Miedecke Motorsport at the time was he not?
You are correct on the Stone Brothers, they were both at Medeckies at the time. Jimmy is behind the car in the first photo.
Ronal rings a bell.
The hole in the gaurd that is talked about was a trendy thing at the time. Just a hammerformed piece welded in.
I have some more photos of it being repaired at the Bathurst Tafe. They used to be the first guys you would go and see when you got there, just in case. Sadly it is no more.
Oh, so they worked for Miedecke, then they must have moved to DJR after that?
Hi Russ,
I think this was a Meridian rather than a Terrapin. It was designed and built by John Moynihan - origiannly had a Cooper S engine in Mk2 form and then a Ford engine on a Mini gearbox in Mk3 form. I owned Moynihans Mk 1 Meridian in the 70's - it was a U2 like thing but built with a supercharged Wolesley 1500 engine. I also had the Ford engine unit from the Mk3 - which I bought when fitted in Sandy Powells rallycross Mini.
Yes Jaque van Vels has the Meridian - but I am not sure how much of the original car is left! Very fast car though.
Graeme Farr
Hello Graeme,
You are most likely right. I never had much of an interest in the car, just bought it for the sake of it. Will try and dig out some pics when time permits but you know what that means.
Sandy Powell! Haven't caught up with him in years and he's only up the road. Good chap, owned the Imp Stilleto with rotary power & a MK.8 Hewland. Will ring him and catch up for some serious beer tasting. Isn't that always serious?
When I bought the Mini off Sandy it was sitting under a hedge - I asked what ever happened to the ex Barry Vuyk Stilletto he had - and he pointed me to another hedge!. There is was all complete with rotary and even still had the cool Haliday wheels. A year or two later an Imp nut from Chch advertised looking for the car and I put him in touch with Sandy. But I think he just took out the Hewland and flogged it off and took the car to the dump. Sad end to a cool car.
Sandy was an amazing engineer - had a massive kiwifruit sorting machine he had built out of bits of apple machinery - and a big fibreglass keeler mould he had built a yacht from. Nice guy too - and very fast rallycross driver.
G
Graeme, Did you see the BMC based coupe that Sandy had bought of a guy from Gisborne - it was under another hedge! Had a 1800 Austin/Morris rear mounted.
From what I remember not a bad effort.
Don't you just treasure guys like this.
Russ
Yes, I think Ross went straight to Dicks and Jimmy did a a stint with Gardner/Longhurst on the BMW's before joining him.
Russ, another Guy in the same mould as Sandy, was Kim Austin. Cant remember much about him except that I loved his driving style and the machines he created. Think he lived down Otorahanga way. I went to a couple of hill climbs where he was participating. I do know he died some years ago and his cars are also probably under some hedge somewhere. I think he may have done the Ashley Forest sprint at some stage.....now that was great to watch, especially the downhill section. Some amazing car control, some times out of control, efforts down there. Your comment that 'dont you just treasure guys like this' is bang on. Unfortunately they just tend to get forgotten. Anyone know any more about Kim?
Kim was very seriously into rallying,he did the Ashly more than once and I think he did the first Cadrona/Queenstown Hillclimb.The V8 rx7 was a mean machine.
Doesn't his Ashley Forest record still stand?
Kim and his mate were killed in a plane crashh may have been a helecopter ,He had a food place south of Taupo {2miles}
It was a Robinson R22. Pilot and owner was Chris Barns, another rally driver I believe. January 2004.
Stu
Amongst other things Chris ran the mid engine Renault Turbo as a rally and rally sprint car.
Les Bognuda did indeed own this car during the 80's in New Plymouth . He was an insurance assessor from memory ( memory aint so good these days either now ) , pretty sure that Larry Taylor used to do the maintenance on it and that probably the last time l ever spoke to Les they were thinking about shoehorning a chevy into it . Car was painted black back then .
Kim lived in a place called Waitakaruru on the Hauraki Plains heading towards Thames. I think he first made his mark at Ashley Forest in a Chevette powered by a Rover V8 - remember him tipping it on its lid. He set the record in a Series 1 RX7 that may have been partially financed by Lance Green, who was his co-driver at times. The RX7 was a pretty good car, but Kim still drove the wheels off it - he was quite spectacular to watch. He also drove the Hickman / Murphy Starion, which was originally powered by a Rodeck? V8. He campaigned a Nissan Pulsar GTIR for a period in the early 90's, and was a stalwart of the Woolf Mufflers rally series. As already mentioned, he was killed in a helicopter accident with Chris Barnes. Chris rallied the Renault R5 as noted, and moved on to a Nissan Pulsar GTIR also - I heard a rumour that he was the first person to win a rally in this car in the world - winning the Whangerei Rally in 1991. Another guy who rallied around the same time was Greg Taylor - he ran Mazda RX7's, as did Mike Montgomery, and David Thexton. Greg Taylor owned a business called Central Roadmarking, and also raced at Bathurst a couple of times in a third Sierra RS500 with the DJR outfit. Taylor progressed to the RX7, possibly from a BDA Escort. Chris' daughter Leanne also made her mark a few years ago rallying cars. A great shame when Barnes and Austin were killed, and I heard a rumour way back in the day, that Taylor had throat cancer - hence the reason he spent a fortune on his rallying / racing, but could never substantiate this.
Lance Green was with Greens travel Papakura,owned by his dad Jack who also made farm machines and sold them there my wife worked there in travel in the 80s
NZ is just a fart-arsed little country, and yet we throw up an amazing array of sporting heros in all sorts of sports, and Motorsport is high on the list. Sandy and Kim are just a couple of lateral thinking guys who beaver away in their sheds concocting cars that can really do the business when it comes down to it. Coupled with a bit of spirited driving these guys become legends over night, and almost as quickly fade away. I think it is our duty here on RS to make sure that this doesn't happen. Too often motorsport has been overlooked when bouquets are being handed out, but as can be seen with what has been posted in all the forums on RS, we have a rich history of do it yourself motoring second to none. Dont worry fellas, we will not forget you.
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